The role of the optic tectum for visually evoked orienting and evasive movements.

ABSTRACT: As animals forage for food and water or evade predators, they must rapidly decide what visual features in the environment deserve attention. In vertebrates, this visuomotor computation is implemented within the neural circuits of the optic tectum (superior colliculus in mammals). However, the mechanisms by which tectum decides whether to approach or evade remain unclear, and also which neural mechanisms underlie this behavioral choice. To address this problem, we used an eye-brain-spinal cord preparation to evaluate how the lamprey responds to visual inputs with distinct stimulus-dependent motor patterns. Using ventral root activity as a behavioral readout, we classified 2 main types of fictive motor responses: (i) a unilateral burst response corresponding to orientation of the head

SUBMITTER: Suzuki DG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6660747 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature